Fish-stringer.



0. B. SPARKS.

FISH STRINGER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7. 1915.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

THE COLUMBIA PmNuaRAP 310.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

err s OVID BENJAMIN SPARKS, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

FISH-STRINGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

Application filed July 7, 1915. Serial No. 38,556.

vise an extremely simple and effective means by which the rigid end member, which is attached at its center to the string, can be also connected at one end to the string so that it can be slipped freely with the string through the gills of the fish when unstringing them.

More specifically stated, my object is to so design the rigid member that in one operating position it will swing from the string at right angles thereto, which is its fish holding position, and in another position it will swing in line with the string and will have its end so shaped that in this position it can be freely drawn by a pull of the string through the fish gills to unstring them.

In its preferred embodiment, my invention comprises a rigid member having means at its center for the attachment of the fish string and having a longitudinal groove adapted to receive the string and extending from such point of attachment to the end of the cross member where a suitable eye means is provided for engaging and detachably holding the string in the groove during the operation of unstringing the fish. This means of holding the string in the top groove is preferably the provision of an eye disposed in a plane at right angles to the long axis of the cross member and having an opening out of line with the top groove and so connected therewith by an open lateral slot that the string can be pressed downwardly into the top groove and then passed laterally around said lateral slot and brought up through the opening into the eye when the member will hang with its long axis in the line of pull of the string and with the string housed thereby soas to present no rough projection that might interfere with the unstringing operation.

My invention also comprises the novel details of construction and arrangements of parts which in their preferred embodiment only are hereinafter described, it being understood that various changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one form of my invention.Figure 1 shows the fish stringer with the parts in the fish holding position. Fig. 2 shows the position of the end member as set for the unstringing operation. Fig. 3 is a perspective end view of the end member. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line a2-x of Fig. 2.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

As illustrated in the drawings, I show an end member 1 formed by an elongated tubular body that is preferably tapered at each end and which is provided with a central longitudinal opening 2 leading from one end to a point near the center where it opens into a longitudinal open groove 3 which extends to a point adjacent to the other end of the member. At this latter end the member is provided with a bottom slot l which connects with the top groove 3 by a lateral slot 5 extending about the side of the member and leaving at the end thereof, as viewed in end elevation, an eye 6 having a bottom opening 7 that merges into the lateral slot 4:. The eye opens through the end of the member and is in line with the bottom of the groove 3 and opening 2, which latter is restricted at some intermediate point by a shoulder or indentation 8, leaving just enough cross sectional area in the hole for the fish string 9 to be passed therethrough, but not enough for a knot 10 at the end of the string to pass. In this manner the end of the string is made fast in the member 1 which conceals the knot. The string passes out through the slot 3 and is connected at its other end to a needle 11 having a disgorging eye 12 in its flattened and sharpened end.

When the stringer is in service the parts are in the position shown in Fig. l with the member 1 hanging at right angles to the string when suspended therefrom, and the fish are strung thereon in the well understood manner. In order to unstring the fish, the latter' are slipped up a short distance on the cord to free the member 1 and the cord is brought forward over the groove 3 and pressed down thereinto. The end of the cord is then brought at right angles to the member 1 and given a half lateral turn through the slot 5 and then it is forced upwardly through the opening 7 and into the eye 6 which holds it in the slot 3. This po sition of the parts is shown in Fig. 2 and it will be evident that the member 1 then fits around the string and hangs in line therewith, presenting a smooth tapered body that can be readily drawn by a jerk of the string through the fish to unstring them. The essential feature of my invention resides in providing means at one end of the member which will hold the same in line with, instead of crosswise of the string and permit it to be drawn while in this position through the fish to unstring them. By being held in line with the string, I mean the member 1 is suspended therefrom with its long axis ver tical and its upper end so connected to the string that it will not swing at an angle to its line of pull.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 2- 1. A fish stringer comprising, in combination, a string, a grooved cross bar to an intermediate point of which the string is conneeted, and a string receiving eye at one end of the bar, said eye having its center sub stantially in line with the adjacent end of the groove and having its string receiving opening out of alinement with the open side of said groove.

2. A fish stringer comprising, in combination, a string, a stringing needle attached to one end of said string, a rigid cross bar to an intermediate point of which the other end of said string is permanently connected, a groove extending from said intermediate point to one end of said bar and adapted to receive the string, a laterally disposed hook at the outer end of said groove adapted to detachably hold the string in said groove and to form a smooth continuation of the body portion of said cross bar.

3. In a fish stringer, a string, a rigid member having a central recess in which the string is made fast, a string receiving groove extending from said recess to a point near one end of the member, and an eye at said grooved end of the member disposed crosswise of the member and having a slot therein out of alinement with the open side of said groove, substantially as described.-

4. In a fish stringer, a string, a rigid member having a central recess in which the string is made fast, a groove extending from said recess to a point near one end of the member, and an eye at said grooved end of the member disposed crosswise of the member and having a slot therein on the opposite side of the member from said groove, substantially as described.

5. A fish stringer cross bar formed of a tubular body having an axial string receiving passage extending from end to end therethrough, said ends being left open and there being a string admitting slot opening from said passage and extending from the middle of the bar to a point near one end, then partway around the bar and then out through the end ofthe bar, said bar having its unslotted end swaged to reduce the size of the passage, and a fish string adapted to be inserted through the unslotted end of the bar and having a knot too large to pass said swaged portion.

6. A fish stringer comprising a cross bar having an axial string receiving opening extending from its middle to one end thereof, there being a slot opening from the outer face of said bar into said opening and extending longitudinally from the center to a point near the end of the bar, then partway around the bar and then longitudinally out through the end of the bar, and means to attach a fish string to the bar at the inner end of said slot.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

OVID BENJAMIN SPARKS.

Witness NOMIE vVnLsi-i.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

